Articles Posted in Wills And Trusts

A Los Angeles judge appointed a probate referee to appraise the late actress Carrie Fisher’s estate. In a one-page order issued Thursday by a Superior Court judge named Zachary Seff the duties of evaluating all interest, inheritance, transfers and property of the late actress/author’s estate. The estate is rumored to be worth $6.8 million. The…

Determining who “legally gets what” would have been provided with an effective will, as these are the decedent’s last wishes. In the event that one passes without leaving behind a will, dying “intestate” means the decedent loses the opportunity to control who will be the recipient of their assets. Intestacy laws, therefore, determine whether or…

The rise of the value of cryptocurrencies in the past few years has exploded and many people have vastly added to their financial wealth. There are billions floating around out there and if you own any of it, like BItcoin, you need to include in your estate planning. You might think that upon your death,…

If you have beneficiaries listed on your IRA and 401(k) plans the money in those accounts will go directly to the beneficiaries and not into probate after you die. If your spouse is a beneficiary, then the money goes directly to them as an inheritance. If the person is not a relation, the assets get…

In planning their estates. many people never consider the prospect that their survivors might sue each other over their share of the estate, but that happens more often than not when money is involved. To protect our estate from survivors fighting over a piece of the inheritance pie, here are some ways, when drafting your…

At the dawn of the digital world, something happened that most didn’t notice. Computer software that you paid money for was no longer yours. You didn’t own it, you only licensed it from the company and they had limitations as to what you could do with it. Now that concept has spread to all aspects…

A Vermont man, Nathan Carman, who was rescued at sea after going missing with his mother last year, has filed papers to represent himself in probate court to fend off a legal challenge by his aunts to declare him a killer. The legal action is an attempt by the aunts to bar him from receiving…

In her will, Bronx widow Ellen Frey-Wouters left $300,000 to Troy and Tiger, her two cats. Her will instructed the money be used to make sure they would “never be caged” and always be lovingly cared for. The New York Post quotes Dahlia Grizzleto, a former health aide Frey-Wouters and now caretaker of the cats…

92 year old Princess Abigail Kawananakoa, known to her friends as Kekau, is Hawaiian royalty. She is a direct descendant to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She has a $200 million trust and now that trust is at the center of a legal dispute. The case pits her former attorney against her long-time…